The 1998 Chicago Cubs excited us all, for an array of different reasons

While many Chicago Cubs teams of the past saw fans have a lot of hope during postseason appearances, the 1998 team was remembered for different reasons.

In terms of historical performances, the 1998 Chicago Cubs may boast some of the best in team history. The season itself brought baseball back to life with the great home run race which saw the single-season home run record by Roger Maris fall to several players. Today it is seen very differently as the use of performance-enhancing drugs in that era has come to light, but then it helped bring back fans who were driven away by the 1994 strike.

A major part of the home run race? Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa, who hit 66 home runs, finishing second behind Mark McGwire‘s 70. Sosa, though, would end up winning the National League MVP award as he slashed .308/.377/.647 with a 1.024 OPS and 158 RBI. His performance helped fill Wrigley Field and made the franchise relevant again, those early-mid 90s Cubs teams were bad and boring. We cannot forget Rookie of the Year winner Kerry Wood, who had his famous 20 strikeout game that season on May 6, in just his fifth career start.

While these memories all live in Cubs fans minds over 20 years later, the ones who witnessed that season also saw them make a rare postseason appearance. Their clinching of the NL Wild Card in game 163 was only their third postseason appearance since 1945.